Minutes:
3.1 Appointment of substantive Head of Service for Education Safeguarding & Inclusion (minute 6 of the 16th October meeting)
It was confirmed that the local authority has not yet secured a substantive replacement for Ronnie Hartley. Judith Nash continues to cover the position in an interim capacity.
3.2 Second letter from the Forum to the Secretary of State concerning additional Covid-related costs falling on schools (minute 7 of 16th October)
The second Forum letter to the Secretary of State to raise concerns about the lack of proper financial support for schools for additional Covid-related costs has not yet been sent. It was agreed earlier that evidence of the scale of those costs would be gathered from schools to accompany that letter. Agenda item 6 below refers.
3.3 Overspend in Schools Block funding arrangements (minute 9 of 16th October)
The technical overspend of £2.18m within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Schools Block account at year end 2019-20 was raised amid concerns that Councils are no longer able to add their own funds to the DSG account to help. The overspend has since been revealed to be an element of double-funding that needs to be corrected going forward from funding year 2021-22. This correction will form part of the wider consultation with schools on the 2021-22 funding arrangements – see agenda item 8 below.
3.4 School trade union facilities time overspend (minute 9 of 16th October)
Conversations / meetings have begun about the proposed new pooling arrangements for school trade union facilities time in line with the draft timeline. The Forum will be updated as matters progress.
3.5 Future school premises funding arrangements (minute 10 of 16th October)
A question was raised about how premises factors will be funded if the Education & Skills Funding Agency moves to a “hard” (ie direct) national funding formula for schools. The earliest this could now happen is from funding year 2022-23. The ESFA are known to be considering how to replicate local circumstances for business rates, premises rentals and Private Finance Initiative (PFI) within a truly national funding formula. There is nothing concrete to report as yet.
3.6 Review of local specialist places (minute 10 of 16th October)
It was asked when Jane Friswell’s review of the sufficiency of local specialist places would be available to look at. It will be the new year before a report is available. 3.1 Appointment of substantive Head of Service for Education Safeguarding & Inclusion (minute 6 of the 16th October meeting)
It was confirmed that the local authority has not yet secured a substantive replacement for Ronnie Hartley. Judith Nash continues to cover the position in an interim capacity.
3.2 Second letter from the Forum to the Secretary of State concerning additional Covid-related costs falling on schools (minute 7 of 16th October)
The second Forum letter to the Secretary of State to raise concerns about the lack of proper financial support for schools for additional Covid-related costs has not yet been sent. It was agreed earlier that evidence of the scale of those costs would be gathered from schools to accompany that letter. Agenda item 6 below refers.
3.3 Overspend in Schools Block funding arrangements (minute 9 of 16th October)
The technical overspend of £2.18m within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Schools Block account at year end 2019-20 was raised amid concerns that Councils are no longer able to add their own funds to the DSG account to help. The overspend has since been revealed to be an element of double-funding that needs to be corrected going forward from funding year 2021-22. This correction will form part of the wider consultation with schools on the 2021-22 funding arrangements – see agenda item 8 below.
3.4 School trade union facilities time overspend (minute 9 of 16th October)
Conversations / meetings have begun about the proposed new pooling arrangements for school trade union facilities time in line with the draft timeline. The Forum will be updated as matters progress.
3.5 Future school premises funding arrangements (minute 10 of 16th October)
A question was raised about how premises factors will be funded if the Education & Skills Funding Agency moves to a “hard” (ie direct) national funding formula for schools. The earliest this could now happen is from funding year 2022-23. The ESFA are known to be considering how to replicate local circumstances for business rates, premises rentals and Private Finance Initiative (PFI) within a truly national funding formula. There is nothing concrete to report as yet.
3.6 Review of local specialist places (minute 10 of 16th October)
It was asked when Jane Friswell’s review of the sufficiency of local specialist places would be available to look at. It will be the new year before a report is available.